The Horse Head Nebulaand NGC 2023

About This Photograph

The Horse Head Nebula is one of the most famous of deep-sky objects. Located in the same interstellar cloud as the Great Orion Nebula, this intriguing puff of gas and dust silhouettes the bright curtain of energized hydrogen gas beyond. Were it not for this backdrop, the Horse Head would very likely be impossible to discern.

To the lower left is the reflection nebula NGC 2023. Here we see a hot, newborn star illuminating the cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to it. The stellar wind and radiation pressure from this energetic star is carving out a vast cavity within the cloud.